A new report from the Johnson Center for Philanthropy shows that charitable giving in Kent County increased by more than $100 million in 2012, the last year in which comprehensive data is available, and may pass the $1 billion mark in 2013 or 2014.
The Estimate of Charitable Giving in Kent County report indicates that in 2012, donors of all types in Kent County gave a total of $947.25 million, which is a substantial increase of more than $100 million from the 2011 total.
Of the total, Johnson Center researchers determined that almost 65 percent of donations came from individuals, while foundations contributed about 26 percent. In fact, the data shows that Kent County is exceptionally generous compared to the rest of the state. While only 6 percent of all Michigan households are located in Kent County, individuals in the county contributed 10 percent of Michigan’s total estimated individual giving in 2012. Foundations in Kent County follow the same trend, contributing a much higher percentage of total giving (26 percent) than foundations nationwide (14 percent).
“Kent County continues to give almost twice as much through foundations as the national average, and individual giving rebounded after a decline in 2011, but is still not quite back to pre-recession levels,” said Michael Moody, the Johnson Center’s Frey Foundation Chair for Family Philanthropy. “Tracking all of these trends over time gives us a clearer picture of the dynamics of giving in the community, leveling out year-to-year variations that naturally occur. We hope the data on giving trends help both donors and grantees understand the nature of philanthropy in Kent County.”
Researchers say if trends continue when data for 2013 and 2014 become available, total county giving levels could pass the $1 billion mark.
2012 giving was broken down by source:
- Individuals gave $614.07 million
- Bequests made up $37.35 million
- Foundations gave $244.78 million
- Corporations contributed $51.05 million.
Total giving was up in each of those segments compared to 2011, but individual giving in 2012 remained about $11 million below peak 2010 levels.
Foundation giving in Kent County is significant, and increased dramatically (32.9 percent) compared to national foundation giving (4.4 percent). A large portion of total foundation giving in the county comes from several large foundations. For example, the 2012 annual giving by five foundations created by one extended family accounted for 47.5 percent of Kent County’s total foundation giving.
The estimate includes giving by donors located in Kent County. It does not analyze how much of that giving is distributed inside vs. outside Kent County.
To see a full copy of the report, visit JohnsonCenter.org
